DOJ Seeks to Revoke Chicago Man’s U.S. Citizenship After 15 Years Over Alleged Immigration Fraud

A Chicago man who has been a U.S. citizen for 15 years could lose his citizenship after the Justice Department accused him of concealing an abandoned green card, a previous identity, and an immigration exclusion order dating back more than three decades.

Federal prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against Emmanuel Tayo Akinkunmi on October 7, 2026, seeking to revoke the citizenship he obtained in June 2011. The government alleges that the Nigerian-born man concealed his immigration history to secure a second green card and later become a naturalized American.

The dispute traces back to 1993, when Akinkunmi allegedly abandoned his lawful permanent resident status under the name Ezekiel Aremu Adetayo. According to the government's allegations, he later became subject to an immigration exclusion order, which the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld in 1997.

Despite that ruling, Akinkunmi allegedly obtained another green card in 2000 under his current name. Prosecutors claim he concealed his earlier identity and denied having been subject to exclusion proceedings, allowing him to obtain permanent residency without officials knowing his full immigration history.

He applied for U.S. citizenship in 2010 and allegedly repeated those denials, failing to disclose the previous identity and exclusion order. Immigration authorities approved his application, and he took the Oath of Allegiance on June 8, 2011.

More than 15 years later, prosecutors are seeking to undo that naturalization, arguing that the information Akinkunmi withheld would have affected his eligibility to become an American citizen.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the government can seek to revoke citizenship obtained unlawfully or through the deliberate concealment of material facts. Although abandoning a green card does not itself justify denaturalization, prosecutors contend that Akinkunmi's alleged misrepresentations allowed him to obtain permanent residency and citizenship without meeting the legal requirements.

The government must prove its allegations in federal court through clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence, a demanding standard that applies to civil denaturalization cases. Akinkunmi remains a U.S. citizen while the lawsuit proceeds unless a court orders otherwise.

His case comes amid an expansion of denaturalization proceedings under the Trump administration. On October 5, the Justice Department announced that it had filed 40 lawsuits seeking to revoke naturalized citizenship between August 21 and October 2. The filings involve allegations of concealed criminal histories, false identities, and other misrepresentations, as federal prosecutors revisit citizenship applications approved years or decades earlier.

In its 2017 decision in Maslenjak v. United States, the Supreme Court held that an unlawful act must have contributed to obtaining citizenship to support a criminal conviction for unlawful naturalization. Akinkunmi's lawsuit is a civil action governed by separate legal standards.

The Justice Department is seeking a court order revoking his naturalization and canceling his certificate of citizenship. If prosecutors succeed, he could face separate immigration proceedings and possible removal from the United States.

The lawsuit remains pending, with the government required to establish that the alleged concealment and misrepresentations provide legal grounds to revoke Akinkunmi's citizenship.